The observance of the mitzvot is a privilege TB Gittin 44

Today’s daf TB Gittin 44 deals with one topic alone. A person who sells his Canaanite slave to a non-Jew must redeem him by buying him back and then set him free. “MISHNA: In a case of one who sells his slave to gentiles, or even to a Jew outside of Eretz Yisrael, the slave is emancipated. ” (TB Gittin 43b, Sefaria.org translation) The original owner is expected to redeem his slave up to 10 times the slave’s value. “And there are those who say a different version of this discussion: Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says that with regard to one who sells his slave to a gentile, even though he can no longer enslave him, he is penalized and is forced to redeem the slave from the gentile for up to ten times the slave’s value.” (Sefaria.org translation) Both Rambam and Shulkhan Arukh accept this version of Yehoshua ben Levi’s statement as the halakha.

Why do the rabbis penalize the owner of the slave that he must redeem his slave and then set him free? The answer lies on how the rabbis view the observance of the mitzvot. Although a Canaanite slave is not Jewish, he is also no longer a pagan. His status is somewhere in between. If he is a male, he is circumcised. All Canaanite slaves are obligated to observe the same mitzvot a Jewish woman is classically obligated to observe. A Canaanite slave just can’t marry a free Jewish person until he/she is freed and thus become a full-fledged member of the Jewish people.

Because the Canaanite slave has the honor, privilege, and opportunity to observe the mitzvot, this honor, privilege, and opportunity must not be taken away from him by selling him to a pagan. In the pagan’s household, this slave would not be able to observe any of the mitzvot. For taking away this honor and privilege, the rabbis penalize the original Jewish owner by making him redeem his former slave and then setting him free.

Many modern Jews think that the observance of the mitzvot is a great and heavy burden. As we have analyzed today’s daf, the rabbis considered it just the opposite. The ability to observe the mitzvot is a privilege and an honor. Nobody captures this idea better than Rabbi Hananya ben Akashya who taught “The Holy One, blessed be He, desire to benefit the people Israel; therefore, God gave them the Torah with an abundance of mitzvot; as it is written, ‘It pleased the Lord, for the sake of (Israel’s) righteousness to make the Torah great and glorious.’ (Isaiah 62:21) (TB Mishna Makkot 3: 16) That’s a much better approach to the observance of the mitzvot than saying in a whining voice, “Do I have to?!”